After a successful business launch, it’s time to really get to work, for long-term success and sustainability

The biggest challenge these days doesn’t seem to be in starting a new business, but sustaining it against the onslaught of market changes and new competitors that emerge every day.

Yet, as an angel investor, I still see too many new business owners who are convinced that their biggest challenge is to get money to start, and once launched with some initial success, they can relax.

In my other role of business advisor, I see examples often of startups that may have taken success for granted too early. A recent high-profile one, Theranos, the blood-testing company, had no trouble getting customers, but promised more than their technology could deliver, Another, Shyp, an early on-demand delivery platform, blamed their demise on premature scaling.

The keys to sustainable success require you to retain that sense of urgency, focus, and vigilance after the launch that you felt during the development and early funding stages.

That starts with initially building a solid business strategy, including a strong support system for scalability, long-term leadership, and adaptability. In my view, this strategy must include the following elements:

1. Define and communicate a purpose and destination

 

Your constituents can’t plot a journey if they aren’t sure where they are going or why. For a successful launch and scalable growth, they need to establish many checkpoints, with metrics to assess their progress and alignment with the vision.

Don’t let that communication fade post-launch.

Also Read: 7 military principles you should apply to your business strategy

2. Build and nurture a team culture of trust and leadership

 

You and your business won’t be able to sustain a position of leadership without everyone on the customer-facing team being willing and able to emulate your lead. That requires trust and respect from all, as well as constant coaching and development to keep them committed to following you.

3. Demand continuous innovation to keep up with change

 

Change is the only constant in a successful business, to keep up with new competitors and new customer demands. Innovation must be applied to your business model, your processes, as well as your product offering. Aim to obsolete your own products with new, before competitors do it.

4. Make sustainability a key design objective for every step

 

You may start with prototype products, but you need rock-solid processes for successful growth and agility. Seek out the best practices in the industry, and improve them for your business. Recognise that every successful journey is long and hard, so don’t cut corners now.

5. Hire the best people and continually upgrade your team

A big mistake often made in the rush to scale is to shortcut the hiring and training processes, to get out there fast, assuming that the team can learn on the job.

Look for team players who can collaborate with others, and make sure everyone has the training and tools to do the job.

Also Read: With this three-pronged system, you can create a sustainable business strategy

6. Seek out strategic partnerships and collaboration

 

When you finally get that funding for scaling, it may be tempting to do everything yourself, to keep control and do it faster.

The problem is that you may not have the experience or connections to jump into new customer segments, manufacturing, and distribution. Capitalise on what already exists.

7. Focus on existing customer retention and repeat business

 

For sustainable growth, don’t forget that, according to data from the field, it is five times as expensive to gain a new customer than retain an existing one, and a returning customer purchases 30 per cent more items and brings in three to seven times more revenue per transaction.

8. Build your brand equity and relationships with customers

 

As a startup, you have no brand recognition, but long-term sustainability requires a powerful brand.

These days, brand equity means relationships with more customers and a more memorable overall experience. Your brand-loyal customer advocates can be your exponential marketing.

9. Never stop hunting for new opportunities and new markets

 

Initial success breeds complacency. While a laser focus is necessary to get your startup off the ground, long-term success requires a broad and ever-changing product line, target audience, and geographic focus. Don’t be a “one-trick pony” that fades into oblivion as time passes.

Also Read: 5 mistakes to avoid when building a business from scratch

Congratulations are definitely appropriate for a successful new business launch, but it’s not the time to relax or take your eye off the ball. A sustainable business, with long-term success, is a different and never-ending challenge, requiring additional strategies as outlined here.

Don’t wait for a business crisis to get started. As many have found out, recoveries are not always possible.

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A previous version of this article first appeared on nfinitiv.

Image Credit: Adrien Olichon on Unsplash

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How ADB Ventures’ Fintech Challenge Vietnam seeks to empower and embolden the country’s Fintech ecosystem

Southeast Asia’s widespread smartphone adoption rates coupled with its massive economic growth has resulted in a mushrooming of tech startups across the region. Southeast Asia’s growth rate is almost double the world’s average of three percent, with countries like Vietnam scoring even more than double (7.1%) the global average according to The World Bank. As such, it comes as no surprise that tech startups are blossoming here and there.

While early startups focused on filling other verticals like ride-hailing and commerce needs such as Grab and Gojek, these have quickly branched out in recent years into the e-wallet space. The move to fintech is a concerted effort by many aspiring startups to fill the gap in access to financial services — as many Southeast Asian people and SMEs remain unbanked, instead choosing to transact through more traditional means.

It is estimated that around half of Southeast Asia’s 650 million people still do not possess a bank account, while around 450 million people do not have access to lending services. Given the differences in regulation and culture across the 10 Southeast Asia countries, fintech startups have looked to smart partnerships with brick-and-mortar banks and other financial institutions to get off the ground.

For Vietnam, inward remittances from its four million-strong diaspora globally have placed Vietnam in the top 10 countries receiving remittances from abroad. Remittances totalled a whopping US$12 billion in 2015 alone. Successful tech startups in Vietnam primarily engage in e-commerce, fintech, and online services, and now the country is home to the third-largest startup ecosystem in Asia, populated by 3,000 startups.

Since 2016, the Law on Technology Transfer has made it easier for local startups to access tech from abroad and the Decree 38-ND-CP provides additional legal protections to startups and provides increased access to state funding.

Fintech Challenge Vietnam categories

With this supportive regulatory backdrop and a thriving ecosystem, the Fintech Challenge Vietnam — spearheaded by ADB Ventures, the ventures arm of the Asian Development Bank — is a unique chance for fintechs to scale quickly in the local market with support from the State Bank of Vietnam and some of the country’s largest financial services providers.

This second edition of the programme calls on startups from around the world to craft solutions to 11 “challenges” Vietnamese financial players face across three categories: Big Data & AI-enabled Analytics, Financial Services Outreach, and Cyber Security.

In the Big Data category, challenges include the balancing of enriching customer data without violating data privacy, leveraging non-traditional credit data to improve credit scoring models, leveraging alternative data for identity verification, and channeling Big Data & AI to craft micro insurance and micro-investment products.

Under Financial Services Outreach, the challenges include encouraging customers to use mobile banking channels and improve customer experience, educating communities with low financial literacy on financial management, developing user-friendly financial products for unbanked or under-banked communities, and making cashless payment solutions convenient to use for consumers and financially attractive for merchants.

The Cyber Security aspect of the programme calls for startups to address challenges such as how to evaluate transactions to enable effective monitoring and detect unusual/abnormal activities, preemptively detect, identify, and predict financial cyber threats and cybercrime. Lastly, this aspect of the programme seeks to leverage technology to develop a secure and traceable exchange of customer information among authorised users.

Startups with solutions that serve to improve financial inclusion are also invited to apply by the September 25 deadline. Top fintechs will receive funding for their pilot programmes, as well as an opportunity to build networks with strategic and technology decision-makers at the country’s leading commercial banks.

ADB Ventures’ Role in Fintech Challenge Vietnam

ADB Ventures has already, via its Mekong Business Initiative (MBI), launched nine corporate innovation and accelerator programmes focusing on travel tech, fintech, agritech, smart city solutions, and female entrepreneurs in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

Dominic Mellor, who designed the MBI and now heads ADB Ventures, says the Fintech Challenge Vietnam builds on these previous programmes while staying true to ADB Ventures’ goal to generate a sustainable impact on climate, gender, and inclusive growth.

“Our Impact Labs aggregate demand for technology in specific industry verticals like finance. We identify a handful of large corporate partners and uncover opportunity statements where their bottom-line technology innovation needs intersect with opportunities for sustainable development impact. Then we source startup technologies from all over the world and introduce them as potential solution providers to our corporate partners.

“Similarly, the Fintech Challenge Vietnam is helping banks source fintechs for greater financial inclusion. These fintech solutions help banks reach more customers with an expanded portfolio of financial products and services while giving SMEs, women, remote, and rural populations better access to finance,” Mellor enthused.

ADB Ventures also runs an interrelated SEED programme that makes funding available for pilot partnerships between the corporate partners and startups it has matched up.

“One reality in emerging markets is that corporates are risk-averse. A proof-of-concept trial in combination with a market pilot could be costly and involves risk. Our SEED program provides capital to de-risk the pilot phase, allowing new tech to be deployed and scaled faster,” Mellor explained.

Thriving on partnerships and solutions

For the Fintech Challenge Vietnam, ADB Ventures has aggregated opportunity statements from four leading commercial banks (TP Bank, UOB, Vietcombank, and VietinBank) and telco payments platform Viettel, all in partnership with the Vietnam’s financial regulator, the State Bank of Vietnam. Now, ADB Ventures is looking for fintechs from all over the world to introduce to these corporate partners as potential solution providers.

To help de-risk investments for corporates, ADB Ventures and its investment partner VinaCapital Ventures, have earmarked up to US$500,000 in SEED pilot funding. Another sponsor, Mastercard, will send two winning fintechs to attend and pitch at Mastercard’s customer event at the 2019 Singapore FinTech Festival.

Following the close of applications on September 25, shortlisted fintechs will be announced on September 30. These fintechs will then have the opportunity to pitch at a Demo Day on 7 November in Hanoi, which will then be followed by pilot testing from November 19 to February 20, 2020.

“The Demo Day audience will include representatives of the State Bank of Vietnam, commercial bank and telco executives, investors, and leading accelerators managers. A panel of independent judges will award cash prizes to three growth-stage and three early-stage fintech companies,” Mellor said.

He further explained that the Fintech Challenge Vietnam is looking for fintechs that can help corporate partners ‘do well by doing good.’

“Your application should show not only how your fintech solution promotes financial inclusion, but also how it can add value to our corporate partners’ operations,” he said.

Interested startups can apply here. All application details are available on the official Fintech Challenge Vietnam website.

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Featured photo by Asian Development Bank.

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Technology and design play a big part in sustainability

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that buildings in different geographies consume energy differently.

We all know that everything from sunlight, the wind, ambient temperature, air quality, humidity and time of sunrise/sunset to the topography of a commercial building invariably affect how we use HVAC and Lighting. In other words, the location and environment of your building determine the way your building consumes energy.

And yet, there is a good chance that you have overlooked the importance of geography when planning for energy efficiency.

Has your buildings’ energy efficiency strategy been customised to your building’s location? Does your building automation system integrate the nuances of your building’s geography and the climate and use them to deliver optimal energy efficiency?

Unless your building automation system is ahead of the curve and is predictive and proactive, chances are your answer to these questions is a big ‘No.’

In effect, in the absence of a balanced approach, your building isn’t equipped to actively and passively reduce energy usage while maximising comfort.

How do location and climate fit into the energy savings formula?

Did you know that a 1 per cent increase in temperature leads to a 1.17 per cent hike in energy demand in hot climates? Cooler climates, on the other hand, actually reduce energy consumption as temperature increases.

Trees, landscaping, and hills can provide shade keeping buildings coolers in hot, humid climates while they act as heat insulators in cooler climates.

A building’s heating energy consumption is also directly proportional to wind speed and direction. More the wind, more the heating and cooling load. Shorter days would mean more dependence on artificial illumination, and so on.

In brief, each location needs different measures for lighting, heating, cooling, and ventilation to keep buildings comfortable.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution!

The variations in these climatic and geographic elements from one location to another make a one-solution-fits-all approach to energy management inadequate, leading to energy wastage and increased energy costs.

Also read: Restorative Innovation requires a change in mindset, but can bring about sustainable benefits for present and future generations

To combat these inefficiencies, what you need is an intelligent building automation system that understands the behaviour of your building and its dynamic environment.

It should be capable of culling insights from weather forecasts, learnt behaviour of your building and patterns of climatic changes in your building’s environment. It should combine these insights with a real-time data feed from your building to draw a unique, customised energy efficiency strategy that ensures minimal energy consumption and maximum occupant comfort.

The perfect energy management plan not only incorporates technology that’s sustainable, but it also takes the inevitable environmental elements into account. A state of the art building automation system or energy management system should be able to:

1. Optimise energy efficiency, comfort, and better air quality by knowing when to leverage the benefits of outside air for free cooling.

2. Harness IoT and cloud computing to maximise free cooling by predicting needs via live weather data.

This strategy significantly improves comfort by optimizing diffuser discharge air temperatures and reducing room temperature variations.

3. Democratise temperature control so that every room enjoys precise, efficient, zone-controlled comfort that is automatically adjusted to factors such as the angle of the sun, shade, weather forecasts, etc.

The system would know how to regulate airflow accordingly and ensure you get the temperature you desire without compromising comfort anywhere.

4. Examine the orientation and geographical placement of your building and combine that with the local weather forecasts and sunrise/sunset times to maintain real-time lighting schedules and ensure your system only runs when it needs to.

Geographical & climatic considerations are not only critical for a customised energy management plan but also in the context of energy efficiency across multiple sites in the country/world.

How do you accurately determine Building 1’s energy efficiency vs. Building 2, a similar building in another location? How do you evaluate which one is performing and what corrective measures are required?

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These five growth hacks will help startups of all sizes attain faster growth without breaking the bank

 

According to CBInsights’ analysis of major startups’ failure, lack of market need and poor marketing is responsible for more than half of all startups fail.

If there is no demand for what your startup offers, it is bound to fail. Worse, even if there is demand, your startup is bound to fail if you’re unable to gain traction.

Growing your startup, however, does not have to require breaking the bank. Below are five cost-effective growth hacks guaranteed to supercharge your startup growth:

1. Leverage the power of viral giveaways

One of the most powerful growth hacks that you can use to rapidly grow your startup is the use of viral giveaways. 

A noticeable case study is that of a freelance writer and programmer Josh Earl. Earl wanted to grow subscribers to his newsletter and decided to use a giveaway.

For his giveaway, he decided to offer a free license to the Sublime Text software (valued at US$70). When people registered for the giveaway, Earl didn’t just stop there, he gave them a “lucky URL” that they can use to invite others to join the giveaway.

Also Read: This startup is introducing Thai cuisine to Chinese market –via mail service

The more people they invited, the higher their chances of winning the giveaway. As a result, participants in Earl’s giveaway automatically became brand ambassadors and had an incentivize to share the lucky URL on Facebook, Twitter, and to their network.

To ensure a successful giveaway, you want to focus on three things:

1. Make sure your giveaway price is relevant to the audience you want to attract.

2. Make sure people are incentivized to promote the giveaway (for example, inviting more people increased an entrant’s chances of winning).

3. Create as much awareness as you can about your giveaway

2. Exploit the power of referrals

Dropbox is one of the most impressive examples of growth hacking ever. Dropbox’s referral marketing system is so powerful that they went from 100,000 users to 4 million users in just 15 months.

That’s a 40 times increase, or a doubling of users every three months. And it’s all thanks to referrals.

What made Dropbox’s referral system so powerful and what can you learn from it?

An amazingly good product. Dropbox’s product was undoubtedly better than that of most of its competitors.

A referral system that gives users an incentivize to actually invite others; most referral programs are designed in such a way that users feel they will lose when they invite others (since these other people will share the same limited resources). Dropbox’s wasn’t.

The Dropbox referral system was clear: up to a limit, you get 500mb extra space for EACH user you refer. Talk about a real incentive!

The process of referring users was made extraordinarily easy; besides providing a custom referral link for all users, Dropbox also made it so that you can share this link with a click by sharing on social media or importing a list of emails.

By clearly analyzing the above key traits of the Dropbox referral engine, and designing yours accordingly, you can also design a solid referral system that will drive your startup growth.

3. Tap into the power of push notifications

Do you know that the average click-through rates of push notifications are 7.8 per cent? This is according to Accengage’s study of over 50 billion push notifications sent to 900 million mobile users.

By contrast, the average email click-through rate is about 2.5 per cent according to data from Campaign Monitor.

While email marketing has long been touted as one of the most important inbound marketing strategies, the facts indicate that push notifications deliver more than 3x as many clicks as email marketing.

Push notifications are naturally more effective because they go more directly to users’ computers or mobile devices as opposed to emails in which users have to login first. It’s also impossible to have fake push subscribers since you have to subscribe with an actual device.

Also Read: Times Internet acquires viral content curator app Viral Shots

If you do not have a push notification strategy yet for your startup, it might be a good idea to do so now.

4.Work on your website speed

Do you know how much a one-second delay would cost e-commerce giant Amazon?

According to Amazon’s own internal calculations, that’s US$1.6 billion every year. While that seems massive, many startups suffer similar revenue loss but on a much smaller scale.

Research shows that:

1. 53 per cent of people will abandon a website that takes longer than 3 seconds to load.

2. A one-second delay in a page’s load time can result in up to a 7 per cent decline in conversions.

3. Page speed is a major factor used by Google to determine a site’s search engine rank and AdWords quality score.

While many startups do not see having a fast website as a growth hack, the above statistics show that having a slow website could automatically be costing you about half of your visitors, a good percentage of your conversions, and good organic and ad search rankings.

Actively optimize your startup website to be a lot faster. Target a page load time of fewer than 3 seconds. Start by ensuring you are on the right web host. The analysis shows that your web host can significantly impact website performance. Take things a step further by using a CDN to ensure your website loads fast globally. You can also enable caching, minify CSS, and use file compression to ensure a much faster website.

5. Develop an SEO strategy

Do you know that 93 per cent of online experiences begins with a search engine and that search engines are responsible for 300 per cent more traffic to content sites compared to social media?

While SEO might appear old school, it could be one of your most effective growth hacks if done right.

Here are some SEO tips for you:

Also Read: 8 SEO tools most used by bloggers and marketers in 2019

1. Create key, comprehensive content resources aimed at answering common questions potential users have.

2. If you don’t have a blog, start one and update it regularly. Businesses with blogs generally get more links and consequently enjoy better search engine rankings.

3. Build links. In a lot of cases, your SEO is only as effective as the kind of links you can get. Get high-quality links through outreach, guest posts, content syndication, and media features in your industry.

 

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The battle of spaces between working more effectively and productively

 

If you’re a freelancer, startup owner, or solopreneur in the modern age, you’ll notice that the work landscape is more mobile than ever. Meetings with existing and potential clients, personal endeavours, and other business opportunities abound, forcing you to be on the move. This leads you to look for quiet, remote work-friendly locations such as coffee shops and coworking spaces

Both options are certainly viable, but today, we’ll be looking at the differences between a cafe and a coworking space to determine which remote work setup better suits your needs. Of course, any coworking space worth its salt would provide free coffee.

Wifi connectivity

Wifi is the most important consideration when choosing a place to work on any day, as it is every professional’s key to staying connected in today’s digital age. Off the bat, a coworking space is a superior choice in terms of wifi.

A coffee shop offers limited access to wifi, literally.

Most cafes will only provide a wifi password if you pay for a drink or pastry, and even if you do manage to access their internet, there are at least ten other people sharing the bandwidth (which is likely a basic subscription) so working from a coffee shop only works when there are only a few customers.

Also Read:  We checked out 6 of the best coworking spaces in Beijing, so you dont have to

On the other hand, shared desk facilities have wifi connectivity that’s suited explicitly for business operations, making it fast even when more than 20 people are sharing bandwidth. Put, a coworking station beats out the typical coffee shop wifi, and itself already worth the hot desk fee.

Work atmosphere

Many freelancers flock to coffee places because of the generally quiet environment (and also the smell of coffee) which helps increase productivity.

The problem is that this doesn’t last long, as there are certain parts of the day, such as lunch when the establishment will most likely be full of customers.

 

While cafes are right spots for working when it’s not lunch or dinner time, you’re just better off at an open office area because you’re assured that the atmosphere is entirely professional, and everyone is working.

“But how about the coffee?” you might ask. The best part about coworking areas is that today, most of them have cafe-style coffee machines so you can whip up a quick cup on your own.

Overall, coworking stations beat out coffee places by a huge margin when it comes to the work environment. Sure, cafes obviously have better coffee, but coworking stations provide an atmosphere that’s truly conducive to output, and you don’t have to dish out P150 for an Americano.

Facilities

When working outside, you should always look for these two amenities: a power outlet and a table/desk.

The latter is readily available at both establishments, but yet again, there’s an issue when it comes to cafes: accommodation. Some cafes are strict when it comes to seating customers, and might even require you to buy several products to stay longer.

Coworking areas don’t have that kind of limitation. Hot desking allows you to work all day long from the location of your choice without worrying about someone taking your seat.

Also Read: The benefits of coworking based on business size

When it comes to power outlets, coworking also beats out cafes. Coffee shops don’t have power outlets just lying around for customers to use, the best they can provide charging stations with a paywall. Coworking desks, on the other hand, come with power outlets so you can charge your devices there.

At the end of the day, coworking spaces and coffee shops both work for freelancers and startup owners and help them achieve a flexible lifestyle and work setup, but the former is the superior choice.

Not only do co-working desks offer everything you need to work productively, but it is also the ideal space for startup teams as studies support that coworking spaces are good for mental health.

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Grab’s main investor, Singapore-based Vertex Venture Holdings announced a US$290 million venture capital fund to invest in high-growth technology firms, according to a Reuters report. They have secured commitments from Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings, Taiwanese chip design firm Elan Microelectronics and other institutions, family offices and funds based in Southeast Asia and Taiwan.

Vertex Venture Holdings’ long-time CEO Chua Kee Lock said: “The Vertex Growth Fund seeks to invest about US$10 million-US$15 million per company, typically in third and fourth round fundings, versus US$3 million to $4 million by affiliate funds in early rounds.”

With the Vertex Growth fund exceeding an initial fund target of US$250 million, Vertex aims to capitalise on the growth of technology startups in Southeast Asia including everything from ride-hailing apps to e-wallets. An early investor in Grab, Vertex Growth is the sixth and latest member of Vertex’s global network of funds spread across China, Southeast Asia and India, the United States and Israel.

Also read: Binance Singapore partners with Vertex Ventures to set up fiat-to-crypto gateway

Vertex has about US$3 billion in assets under management across its network of funds and has invested in more than 200 companies. The funds focus on investments in their regions of industry specialization and are run independently.

Chua said the fund will also look at global opportunities, including in areas such as cyber-security in Israel and consumer-related technology in Southeast Asia and China.

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Image credit: Unsplash

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You need to develop a mobile app that can win over your customer within a few seconds

How often do you think before downloading a mobile app?

Just for a few seconds!

People make up their minds about retaining an app in their mobile phone just in a matter of a few minutes. The increasing count of mobile applications won’t give you the chance to move ahead in the race. 

To make your mobile app compete and to win the race of downloads, there are several factors to consider. Some of these matrices are general marketing, user acquisition, user action, business metrics, etc. Few of the aspects that are responsible for the failure of your mobile app are listed below:

Inadequate market research

The notion of the mobile app development you came up with, is undoubtedly the solution to a specific problem that you are trying to solve.

The secondary challenge is to find the demography of the people interested in your solution and perform the research if a similar solution is already available. You need to seek for Unique Selling Proposition (USP) of your product, precisely that of a mobile app, here. 

While creating the buyer persona or the user identity, consider yourself as a layman. Secondly, seek for how your thoughts can perform well over others. Then, analyse your competitors and their pain points and craft the strategy to take your mobile app to the next stage of designing.

Inadequate market research is like leaving a hole in the bucket of water. Your entire efforts and money of transformation of ideas to the mobile app, building marketing strategies, leads collection will be wasted otherwise. 

Choice of the platform

While driving the bandwagon of mobile app development, the selection of the platform comes first.

This solely depends on the goal of the mobile application and the demographics. If your user base involves more iPhone users, there is not much point in creating the Android app. Whereas, if your target audience includes users of both platforms, you may like to go for the hybrid app development. 

Also Read: Optimising your app development: from ideation to launch

The requirement of the app designing for multiple platforms varies from business to business. When your mobile app is not equally compatible with numerous platforms, you can miss the more significant user base. And, that’s why you must think for a while for the mobile app platform before designing an app.

Bad UX designing

Don’t get intrigued by term UX; it implies simply making complex processes look easy for the users. With an interactive UX design, you try offering simpler experiences to the users.

From designing to development and marketing, the app’s UX must meet the goals. For instance, if you’ve created an e-commerce app: the checkout process, product searches, navigation should be easier for customers. 

You can also add certain in-app features like search, set up predictive text, root word recognition, autocorrection to make navigation in the app more comfortable for the users. You can ask for the user to allow auto-save passwords for quick and easy logins. When asking users for permission to call log, messages or camera, explain its need, in brief. This improves the credibility of your app. 

There are plenty of ideas like the ones shared above, that can help you and users attain their goals quickly. A good UX builds your brand value and enhances the chances of customer retention due to the reliability factor. Whereas, a bad UX and weak navigation system can lead to the mobile app uninstallation within a second. 

Launching an untested mobile app

Launching a mobile app completely free from any bugs is a rare event. However, proper QA testing can reduce the count of bugs, if any. These days there is the availability of software in the market that can ease the mobile app designing for you.

The businesses that are eager to jump into the market get their apps designed from such sources and launch their apps, which can be the most significant reason behind the app failure. 

Also Read: 8 things to consider when choosing a mobile app development platform

Without QA testing, you won’t find the mobile apps compelling enough to stand in the market. Don’t get so much in a hurry, rectify the errors, and reduce the chances of app installations. 

Remember, the first impression is the last. So, please don’t leave a chance to acquire negative reviews.

Unavailability of the backend support

 Customer support for any of the products or services you launch in the market is the need of every business. In the case of mobile apps, the niche of your app decides the need for backend support. Like e-commerce, recharge and gaming apps need more stringent help in comparison to that book reading or music apps. 

With the advent of cloud technology, offering backend support turned a bit easier for businesses. You must consider the scalability factor to suffice the sudden increment in the traffic.

When the user is stuck while using the mobile app, they like to connect with you to solve their queries. In case of unavailability of the support in the meantime, the user won’t wait for long. Instead, they will uninstall your app. They will surely seek alternatives, and you will miss one of the users. 

Untimed marketing

The marketing efforts for your products start right from the moment of ideation. You can’t simply wait for the time of product completion and then hire a team for marketing. During the market research, you should collect and add the ideas that businesses like that of yours are already trying. 

To add the audience and user base for your mobile app, start sharing your idea, even when it is under development. In this way, you can make your audience aware of your brand and offerings. It can be helpful for you to entice your customers to be the first users on launch. 

Once the app is ready to launch in the market, app optimisation is the key factor that you must count on. It is a systematic approach that improves the ranking of your mobile app and reduces the chances of failure. 

Also Read: Believing in the iterative process of app development

In addition to these critical factors, proper execution of the mobile app when launched in the market can decide on the success or failure. To improve the user retention rate, you must offer fantastic customer support to your initial customers. Be available to them wherever they feel stuck.

Don’t bother your customers too much with the push notifications or offers. At the same time, don’t leave them unattended. Share everything that you have available for your app and grow your potential with every update. Evaluate your performance regularly and update your strategies in a timely fashion. 

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Tueetor founder Tan Han Sing spills the beans on the growth of edtech and why social impact mindset is key for new-age startup founders

Bringing the uber tactic to teaching, Singapore-based Tueetor matches learners and trainers based on a set of pre-defined criteria: subject, academic level, qualification, teaching experience, rate/budget; preferred time and location.

Father of two, founder Tan Han Sing dropped everything he was doing in 2014 to devote all of his time and savings to build Tueetor, simply driven a friend’s (and single mother) tutor woes for her child. Focusing on the private tuition market, his edtech company aims to address two pain points many parents face in their children’s education: affordability and accessibility. In 2016, iGroup invested US$1.48 million in Tueetor to expand to other markets in Southeast Asia.

Tueetor is currently operating actively in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. While Singapore has a lower language barrier and faster speed-to-market, future growth is expected to come from markets such as China and India. A strong belief system in “educating the next” and the high-value of college education, are some of the reasons why Tueetor is confident they can scale in these markets.

Also read: 5 ways the on-demand economy has disrupted the way we study and learn

When asked about Tueetor’s plans for the future, Tan was quick to add, “It’s not so much about the personal or organisational goal, but a national one. You see, most Singaporeans (like me) grow up with one or more foreigner-classmates. They make huge sacrifices to come here, in the hope of a better life for them and their families’ through Singapore-style education, which is renowned worldwide. However, for every foreigner-student that makes it here, there are a lot more who are unable to. It’s just too expensive – tuition fees, living costs, etc. So, why not take our education to these students instead?”

Their answer is the virtual classroom and video-on-demand modules ready for launch in the first half of 2020. Singaporean-trainers will be able to export their knowledge, for the first time, through live and recorded teaching contents worldwide. This carries long-term benefits, not just in enriching per capita income and GDP, but fostering greater understanding between the people of the nations.

You seem to be driven by social change. What are your thoughts on social-impact startups?

Genuine impact investments are few and far between. Even lesser are impact investors that recognise a good social-impact startup. There’s a general perception that startups are more driven in delivering their causes than profits; the projects are not sexy enough in terms of returns. Unknown to many, behind every successful + sustainable startup, you will often find elements of community wellbeing creation. From ride-hailing companies promoting employment to patient/eldercare businesses providing health and physical wellbeing to edtech creating affordable and accessible education. There are huge opportunities in the social-impact startup scene.

Why is it important for entrepreneurs to have a social impact mindset?

Empathy. It allows entrepreneurs to better appreciate pain points; identify workable solutions and implement them with care. In other words: serve its customers and markets better. The same empathy extends inwards too, helping entrepreneurs recognise the strength and weakness of co-workers and current circumstance, allowing them to lead effectively.

Would you say Edtech is still in its early stages of booming? Why?

In 2018, the estimated global advertising market size is US$600 billion, AI: US$10 billion, and biotechnology: US$400 billion. Recorded VC investments in these industries are US$ 7b, 9b and 12b, respectively. Education stands at US$6 trillion and is poised to hit 10 trillion in 2030, fuelled by a global population of 8.5 billion by then. Notwithstanding, it managed only to attract a modest investment of US$6 billion – a huge disconnect – with over 50% of it going to China edtech startups. That said, it was still twice of 2017, and the strong numbers in 2019 so far has suggested that things are warming up.

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In addition to Circles.Life, we also have updates from Nodeflux, Pixerf, and Dolfin

Circles.Life launches in Australia – Press Release

Singapore-based telco company Circles.Life today announced its expansion into Australia through a strategic partnership with local telco giant Optus. The expansion followed its entry into Taiwan recently.

“We have made history in the telco space with our rapid launch in Taiwan and now, Australia. In Australia, similar to other countries we found that customers are unhappy with their telcos so we’re stepping up the game by offering a premium customer experience. We are proud to partner with Optus and we aim to set a new benchmark for customer satisfaction in the country,” said Circles.Life Co-Founder Rameez Ansar.

In a press statement, the company credited its ability to enter new markets rapidly due to its Circles-X technology stack. Unlike a traditional telco or MVNO, Circles.Life has eliminated all proprietary hardware and appliances and moved the entire architecture to a software-based cloud environment.

In Singapore, Circles.Life has already expanded beyond telco by creating digital lifestyle and insurance products, with more to come.

Nodeflux, Jakarta govt sign partnership to implement the startup’s AI technology – Press Release

Indonesian Vision AI startup Nodeflux announced that it has signed an MOU with the government of DKI Jakarta province to implement the use of its platform VisionAIre.

As part of the province’s Jakarta Smart City initiative, the VisionAIre platform will analyse data gathered through more than 7,000 CCTVs in Jakarta, helping the government make data-driven decision through real-time analytics.

The results will be used to develop policies in these sectors: Smart Mobility, Smart Governance, Smart Living, and Smart Tourism.

Since 2016, the use of AI has been implemented as a proof-of-concept in the Jakarta Smart City initiative.

Also Read: A deep-dive into how Circles.Life can become Singapore’s unicorn

Stock photo marketplace Pixerf launches in Indonesia – DailySocial

Singapore-based stock photo marketplace Pixerf announced its entry to Indonesia, DailySocial reported.

Having been around since 2015, the startup has only been officially launched in 2018, together with a US$2 million early-stage funding round from an undisclosed investor.

According to Pixerf Founder and CEO Sa’at Ismail, the startup chose to enter Indonesia as the country is the second biggest contributor of users in its platform, about 27 per cent of more than 80,000 users.

In the next five months, the company plans to open an office in Jakarta, followed by Denpasar and Jogjakarta. It also plans to recruit a marketing team.

Kezar3D Printing Services opens 3D printing kiosk in a mall – Press Release

Filipino 3D printing startup Kezar3D announced the opening of its first 3D printing kiosk at Robinsons Place Lipa, Batangas.

The Kezar3D kiosk is a 2-meter by 2-meter kiosk with a built-in 3D printing system that can receive, evaluate, quote, and print 3D models.

Its open design puts an operating 3D printer in an aquarium-like enclosure allows visitors to see how 3D printing technology works. Visitors are also allowed to touch multiple finished prints that are on display.

The company is set to open kiosks in Manila, Pampanga, Cebu and Davao from November to September next year.

Kezar3D currently have 41 remote sites all over Luzon and is valued at over PHP61 million (US$1.1 million).

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Image Credit: Circles.Life

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The Singapore-based human resource and benefits management platform is a cloud-based HR SaaS company

HReasily, a Singapore-based SaaS-enabled human resources firm, announces that it has received US$5 million funding from one of its longest client, Envy Capital.

The funding, HReasily said, will be to accelerate development, especially for its features to benefit its users.

Envy Capital, which is a part of Envy Asset Management, said that it has been using HReasily services in 2015 when its company was still a team of three. Envy Capital’s leader coined the positive improvement that the company has experienced growing into a team of 18 today is also because of HReasily’s solutions on workplace culture.

“HReasily has digitised a lot of our functions with a suite of HR management services. The system allows us to add on modules only when we need them. Looking at it in the long term, there are different solutions we can utilise as our business needs grow,” said Rhiya Lee, Envy’s deputy managing director.

HReasily provides a human-resource technology aimed for small to medium enterprises.

Also Read: Singapore’s SaaS startup HReasily raises funding to help SMEs streamline HR work process

Pascal Henry, HReasily’s CEO and co-founder, said: “We’re delighted that our end user sees us not just as a digital solution, but as a business partner.”

HReasily’s tools digitalise and automate HR processes such as implementation and employee onboarding. It also offers a capacity for personalisation, and constant additions of new modules.

Its suite covers core functions such as payroll, expense claims, time and attendance, and leave management.

Currently, the company said it has 30,000 companies on its platform, with active users in eight countries: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

This year, HReasily added an Insurance component to its Staff Benefits pilot module, as well as white-label solutions. The company plans to roll out Scheduling and Employee Benefits next, with Performance Appraisal, Reporting, Onboarding and Scheduling in the pipeline for 2020.

In April 2018, HReasily raises seed funding co-led by Mazars Group (a global audit, accounting and consulting group) and New Zealand-based VC firm Zino Ventures.

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